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International research

MDFT-IGD (Internet Gaming Disorder) Study

Members of the original International Cannabis Need for Treatment (INCANT) Study, including Henk Rigter, the INCANT PI from The Hague, Netherlands, are collaborating with MDFT International again on a multi-site, cross-national research project to treat Internet Gaming Disorders (IGD). The study’s clinical sites are in Paris, France (Paris Descartes CPSC - Institut de Psychologie, and Dupre Clinic), and Geneva, Switzerland (Phenix Foundation).

The International Cannabis Need for Treatment (INCANT) Study

In 2003, representatives of the national governments of Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland agreed there was a need in Europe for a treatment program for adolescents with cannabis use disorders and other behavioral problems. Based on a literature review of evidence-based treatments and an international experts meeting, Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) was selected for a pilot study first, and then for a joint, cross-national randomized controlled trial designated INCANT (International Cannabis Need for Treatment).

Dr. Henk Rigter of Erasmus and Leiden Universities in the Netherlands led this transnational effort, a unique study in the field. MDFT supervisors and teams were trained in Brussels (Brugmann Hospital), Berlin (Therapieladen), Paris (Centre Emergence and CEDATs), The Hague (Parnassia Brijder and De Jutters), and Geneva (Phénix).

MDFT strongly boosted treatment retention in INCANT, as in earlier American trials. Treatment retention in TAU was lower.

MDFT reduced the number of days of cannabis use (TLFB) more than the individual psychotherapy. When adolescents were divided in a "low-severity" and a "high-severity" group based on the TLFB, MDFT was as effective as TAU in the low-severity group, but markedly more so in the high-severity group (effect size was moderate to large).

MDFT decreased psychological problems associated with substance use more than the individual treatment. MDFT reduced the number of externalizing symptoms more clearly than the individual treatment.

A major conclusion: when cannabis use is heavy and cannabis dependence is severe or (to be reported) associated with mental co-morbidity or family dysfunction, MDFT would appear to be the treatment of choice.

*Rigter H. Report on the INCANT pilot study. The feasibility of Multidimensional Family Therapy in European context as a treatment for troubled adolescents misusing cannabis and possibly other substances. Rotterdam: Erasmus MC, Department of Public Health, 2005 (www.incant.eu). [E]